RTE in UK - experiences

Ricks

Folks,

Having used many of the posts here to check out & gain info. these are my experiences getting Irish sub. & UK ftv activated from UK in last 3 weeks - hopefully info. will be helpful for others.

Got box (Panasonic 20) for £70 via EBAY. Got Irish Family pack + Sky Sports sub. from Sky agent in Ireland - without box or dish using Irish address & Irish bank account (agent was supportive & willing to activate card in their own workshop - this arranged prior to recent RTE card-box match) in wife's name. Got UK FTV card using UK address in my name.

Got dish fitted by UK independent installer. Connected box to UK phone line.

Tried repeatadly to activate Irish card using callback (both with & without 141 in phone prefix field) callout light lit but installation failed consistently. Then tried to activate UK ftv card by same method - worked first time (all channels inc. BBC within 10 minutes). Hurridly disconnected phone connection for good.

After several deep breaths phoned Sky "Technical support" (by dialling +44 8702435000) number on UK mobile. Explained in my best (definitely not Irish) accent that just had installation done & callback had kept failing & installer had said to call Sky. Went through "validation": card number, name address plus "and you're calling from Ireland?" and was given another number to call (for new connections(? from memory) +44 8705 800822.

Called up, repeated "story", had less thorough validation & was asked for version number, serial number & card number & was told signal would be sent & all should be working within a couple of hours. Also asked if phone line was connected & signal was ok. Most channels there within minutes. No RTE in 2 hours so phoned again, was told signal was sent immediately & all RTE channels on in 10 minutes. 3rd call as still no Sky Sports after 3 hours (told they were have problems with signals & should be ok by next day). It was.

Also got Film 4 added in last call & DD form sent out (as Irish agent's request hadn't produced any results).

All working fine, card swaps ok tho' box has hung up a couple of times. Still on 2.8b* s/w (presumably as box wasn't connected when update was sent out) and in no hurry to upgrade due to all the grumbles.

Conclusions/guesses after this:

callback number is on cards not in box
no cross check between ftv & sub cards on same box
UK mobile appears same as Irish call to Sky
it can be done!

Your previous posts helped me work out what to try - thanks Guys!

Tony

Originally posted by Ricks

Tried repeatadly to activate Irish card using callback (both with & without 141 in phone prefix field) callout light lit but installation failed consistently.

This is probably beacuse the box is trying to dial an Irish no. Glad it worked out for you , good luck

Tony

Ricks

I had been informed that callback used UK number - though that could be wrong. Can you confirm Tony?

If call back is to Irish number that confirms callback number is on card - my box is from UK.

All to add to the sum of human knowledge!

Ricks

I had been informed that callback used UK number - though that could be wrong. Can you confirm Tony?

If call back is to Irish number that confirms callback number is on card - my box is from UK.

All to add to the sum of human knowledge!

seano

On the back of my ROI card <2 weeks old>the number is 0044etc
The number in the services menu is the 1800.
Strange but true

Tony

Originally posted by Ricks
I had been informed that callback used UK number - though that could be wrong. Can you confirm Tony?

If call back is to Irish number that confirms callback number is on card - my box is from UK.

All to add to the sum of human knowledge!

I dont quite understand, you are using an Irish card right? The box will not initiate callback unless a card is inserted so it knows which no. to dial. Therefore the location of the box makes no difference its the viewing card which determines this. So to summarise you cant do a callback in Ireland with a UK card and vice versa.

Hope this helps
Tony

Ricks

Thanks Tony. Yes - I was trying to activate Irish sub card by Callback in UK. This was in belief that number called was UK number (even with int. code in front that should work from UK). If callback uses Irish number held on card this explains why it didn't work.

Am also now clear that callback numbers are held on chip on cards.

Slainte,

Richard

Richard

Originally posted by Ricks
Thanks Tony. Yes - I was trying to activate Irish sub card by Callback in UK. This was in belief that number called was UK number (even with int. code in front that should work from UK

With BT, maybe, but with NTL (not cable, the box you plug in between the phone and the socket) calls starting 0044 don't work in the UK. I am not quite sure why I tried it, to be honest...

Tony

Originally posted by Ricks
Thanks Tony. Yes - I was trying to activate Irish sub card by Callback in UK. This was in belief that number called was UK number (even with int. code in front that should work from UK). If callback uses Irish number held on card this explains why it didn't work.

Am also now clear that callback numbers are held on chip on cards.

Slainte,

Richard

As far as I'm aware the callback no in ROI is a 1800 no.

Sláinte